Something went wrong...

Rating: Null/10 (4 December 2003)

...but I'm not entirely sure where.
I really wanted to enjoy this movie... I saw it three times and attempted to enjot it each time... but it went wrong somewhere, and I can't exactly figure out where.
Hmm. First of all, the first quarter of the film was incredible. Abandoned London (it reminded me of Philadelphia in "12 Monkeys" only much more ominous, perhaps because the main character had no clue what was going on. I also appreciated the "inhumanity" of the survivors. They didn't care about feeling or loyalty... they just cared about being alive. How refreshingly un-American. I can only imagine how horrible this would've been if Kevin Costner was in this film somehow.
So we follow Jim and friends around for a bit... the UK's gone, he's dealing with it... does something really stupid... more zombies... then they meet the little girl and her dad. By this point... I knew the film was going somewhere rather cliched. I went to have a cigarette.

Much, much later... there's the "Lord of the Flies" military outpost, complete with attempted rape of the women, Jim is almost killed... more zombies, thrilling escape... and then one of three possible endings where everyone is assumed to have been rescued by the British military. Yay....
Perhaps I was expecting too much from the guy who directed "Trainspotting" and "Shallow Grave."
I'm perfectly willing to suspend disbelief for a while, but a virus that infects people in 20 seconds? Isn't that kind of... impossible? And there were a few plot holes that could've been dealt with through a careful look at the script. Why does one of the characters say it's spread to Paris and New York, but we get a few indications (i.e. a jet flying overhead in the middle of the film) that the outside world is still functioning fine? Is that one scientis in the lab the only one working? Why doesn't anyone else see what's going on? The supermarket seemed to be lit by the (in other places not working) electric light. A couple days to get to Manchester? When I went to the UK, it only took a few hours from London by car, and this was with the entire populace alive and well (and on the roads incidentally).
And... what is it with animal rights people being blamed for the destruction of humanity? I'd like to see a movie where religious right people are responsible for the extinction.
This film could have been amazing... intstead it was OK... and rather disappointing. I got the feeling that after the first 45 minutes, the writers and director had no clue what to do, so they kinda made it up as they went along. See it if you want.